Our Little Lady...

Little Miss Madi is growing up so quick.  One of my FAVORITE things about her right now is her obsession about the temple.  Ever since we went in November to have Easton sealed to us, she has been singing "I Love To See The Temple".  She sings it several times a day.  She tells me all the time she is going there someday.  She tells me every day that she is getting married, in the temple.  When I ask her when, she quickly responds "when I four". I started saying "how 'bout 25" to which she says "Oh, 25" with a little laugh and a big smile.  She drapes blankets around her like a veil and dances around, telling me she is getting married.  I love it.  I love that she has been able to experience and remember the sweet feelings that come inside the temple and the beauty of the ordinances there.  She asks frequently to see the temple when we are out driving and loves to look at pictures of the temple.

Nine Months...

Okay, so I am a little late, but Easton had his nine month appointment last week and here are his stats...

Height: 27"

Weight: 21 lbs. 12 oz.

Head: 18"

He is growing and developing great.  He crawls every where and loves to stand.  If he isn't on the move, he is pulling himself up to whatever he can find.  He is a pretty easy going kid and has lots of smiles.  He is still toothless, but I can see the very tip of his first one.  I have been able to see it for a few weeks though, so I am not holding my breath for anytime soon.  He likes to read stories, watch Madi dance, play with toys and LOVES the bath.  He is always thrilled to see his Daddy when he gets home from work.  He hasn't said his first word yet but is very vocal.  He recently discovered that when Madi is upset, he can grunt at her and make her cry louder.  He thinks it's pretty funny.  As soon as she starts to calm down, he grunts at her again and it all starts over.  He has also learned to pull hair and finds it particularly funny to pull Madi's. 

Easton has a flat spot on his head and we are considering a helmet.  We found out on Wednesday that he is for sure a candidate for one and I take him on Friday to get measured and see what the insurance will cover.  I am a little hesitant for a couple reasons. 

1. It is totally cosmetic and could be as much as $2,000 out of pocket

2. There is such a small window of time because he is so old, I am not sure it will work as good as we hope

3. It could correct itself some on it's own, as he is on his back less and less.

It isn't something that can be fixed later and I don't want him to hate his head or be self conscious either, so we are leaning towards doing it but will wait and see how it all plays out. 

He is such a cute kid and I love having him for my son.  It is so fun to watch him learn and grow and discover new things.  I love that kid!!!

FEED ME!!!

Our little Easton boy LOVES food.  (Probably couldn't tell by his svelte figure :D)  There hasn't been anything that we have found that he doesn't like.  Corn on the cob might be one of his new faves!  He thought it was great and gnawed on it for quite awhile.  I liked that I could give it to him and he was satisfied while we all ate.  (He usually stands at my leg, begging, the whole meal even though I feed him right before.)

I love those chubby cheeks!  Such a cute kid!

A new do...

We had to get Madi's mullet cut off and we went for a different cut this time.  I have to say that I totally LOVE it!  It looks adorable on her. 

It is so easy to do and she LOVES that I can't do pony tails with it. :D 

She is getting so big and is starting to look like a little girl and is losing that toddler look.

The faster I run...

...the behinder I get.  The last couple weeks have been rough for me. 

One of the goals I set for myself was to keep my home cleaner, at least the main areas.  I wanted to get my spring cleaning done early and get into a routine cleaning schedule.  I did pretty well the first couple weeks (at least I think I did :D) but about two weeks ago I got this pain in my butt that went all the way down my left leg.  (I think I have a pinched sciatic nerve but am still getting tests done.)  Anyway, because of the pain, I have not felt like keeping up on it all and now I have to start over. 

I'm not sure if it has been the leg thing, the extra meetings Derrick and I have had this week, or something else, but this week I realized how lonely I am in the way of girl friends.  My closest sister/BFF lives in Pleasant Grove with the next closest in Spanish Fork, my mom and other sisters live out of state and my BFF's live an hour and a half or more away. 

So, to all my girls: I miss you and if you ever want to move, move by me, OK!?!?!

Tomorrow starts a new week.  I am determined to make it better than the last two, pain or no pain. 

Madi's reaction...

Let it snow...

...'cause she's ready for it! 

Potty Talk...

I have kind of taken a break from potty training.  I do it some days and other days I just don't want to clean it up.  She is still really good at going #1 and finds new ways to do it all the time (see photo to the left).  And, she still struggles with #2.  I thought I would try letting her clean it up and see if it helped.  So, when she went to the bathroom on the floor the other day I gave her some toilet paper and told her she needed to pick it up and put it in the toilet.  The whole way to the bathroom she repeated "dis is gwoss, weelly, weelly gwoss, mom."  I said "I know, that's why you get to clean it up."  I sprayed the floor with disinfectant and handed her a rag to clean the floor.  The following day the same thing occurred, with the same dialog.  The next day she asked to wear a diaper.  Really?!?!



Ready, set, GO!!!

We finished the Total Money Makeover book today and are so super excited to start this part of our lives.  We closed all of our accounts, yes, all of them, even RC Willey and our gas card.  We cut them up.  Although most of them have no balance, I didn't realize how many consumer cards we had open.  I applied for a couple jobs and would really like to get the stocking job at WinCo since it is nights and just down the road.  (If anyone knows of a night job or a VALID work from home thing or something I could bring my kids with me, let me know.)  We are aiming to have baby step two completed in about two years (hopefully less)!  It is going to be a hard journey as it is a big life style change but we are ready to "live like no one else, so we can live like no one else"!  We'll keep ya updated on the ups and downs of our makeover. 

A new fad???

Madi has started taking her right arm out of all her shirts and wearing them like this.  It looks totally uncomfortable to me but she likes it.  If I fix it, it is only a minute or two before she has it out again.  Crazy kid! 

Stitches...

On Friday I was laying with Easton when Madi started crying.  I told her to come here and she just cried louder.  I got up to see what was wrong with her and when I went into her room, she was in Easton's crib with blood all over her mouth and there was a frame in the bed with the glass out.  I took her to the ER to see if she needed stitches.  She got five!  This is the first time that she has had stitches.  I have told her a million times to stay out of Easton's crib.  She said she was banging on the wall (probably kicking it).  It is such a sensitive spot.  I feel bad for the kid.  She hasn't climbed in his crib since then and I took the glass out of all the pictures in their room.  Hopefully she learned a lesson.

I am glad that we have insurance and that we have modern medicine.  I hope that it doesn't leave a scar.  It looks so sore.  She is doing great and tells me everyday that she has an ouwie on her lip.  It must not hurt though, because when she points to it, she always goes to the other side first. :D

Our Total Money Makeover...

Our New Year's Resolution is to begin our Total Money Makeover.  We are so excited to start it and have been reading a chapter a day.  If you haven't heard of this, you really should check it out.  It isn't anything new or anything complicated, but Dave Ramsey puts it into perspective and creates a successful plan with seven baby steps to help your income to work for you. I will be updating throughout our makeover.

Oreo's and a new year...

We celebrated the new year with Chris, Annie, Tiffany and Rick.  We played games, decorated mini cakes, ate til we were sick and laughed all night.  I love being with my siblings.  I am so lucky to have such awesome brothers and sisters and some of the best in-laws a girl could want.  They are some of my best friends. 

Easton got to enjoy a couple of Oreo's.  He had never had them before.  We stripped him down, put him on a towels and let him go to town.  He LOVED it and probably would've eaten the whole bag if I'd have let him.  He kept grinning and saying "mmm" while he was eating them.

They got a little slippery for a minute.  :D 

 

A Hill Billy Purse...

My mom's side of the family has a party every year that they exchange true white elephant gifts.  They are a lot of the same ones the recirculate and new ones get added every year.  Every one hesitates to see if they got a pair of over sized whitey tightys, the elegant lacy DDD, or the slippers made from pantie liners.  This year there were a few notable additions.  My cousin made the ever needed hill billy purse, complete with duct tape bows.  I didn't get a picture, but my uncle also had a real winner.  He made a ring out of his tooth that he lost 20+ years ago.  It shined, white and silver and a little cavity.  He was very kind to put it in a box!

A new calling...

I FINALLY got a calling!  I am the new Wolf Den Leader.  I am super excited.  I know nothing about scouting.  My mom put so much time into with my brothers that I thought it was annoying and avoided it at all cost! So, now I get to learn and then by the time Easton is in scouts, I should be a pro, right?

Homemade...

Every year I try to make something homemade for Christmas.  This year, aside from Madi's kitchen, I made her Cabbage Patch a skirt and shirt.

and I made Madi an apron.  I LOVE how it turned out.  My friend, Andrea, was so awesome to let me borrow hers for inspiration and a pattern.  This is the front... 

...and this is the back.  The material is also used for her window valance and some decorative towels and things in her kitchen. 

Our Christmas...

We started our meeting with one of the most wonderful sacrament meetings I have ever been to.  One of the guys in our ward sang with his sister.  They sang Silent Night and I Know That My Redeemer Lives in the most amazing version I have ever heard!  Church brought the Spirit into our day and was the perfect start. 

After church we came home and had to take a few pictures of us all dressed up.  Derrick and Easton got matching ties.  I love it.  They both look so handsome!

Daddy with his two favorite kiddos! 

Our little chunk!  How cute are those cheeks!!! 

I love these kids and am so blessed to be their mom.  They bring so much joy and life into our home and I love it!

Mommy with her precious little ones! 

 Me and Easton

Derrick surprised me with a shirt to match Madi's dress since they got matching ties.  He is so sweet and so thoughtful! 

 My pretty princess!

After we took pictures we changed back into our Christmas pj's and went out to read the Christmas story in Luke and had family prayer.  Easton could hardly wait to get to the presents.  I had to pull him away THREE times during prayers and it wasn't even a long one!  The kids sure did get spoiled!  Look at all those presents!

Much to Madi's surprise, Easton got to open first since he is the youngest. 

He wanted them all!  We had to help him focus a little. 

Madi was quick to help with that.  She went right over and helped him open it.   

Then it was her turn... 

She wasn't really even concerned about what she got, she just wanted to open presents.  She went through one after another, barely stopping to see what it was.

She got Tinkerbell pj's, two Tinkerbell puzzles, Tinkerbell paint book, Tinkerbell look and find book, Tinkerbell towel and tons of Tinkerbell chap stick.  She was in heaven! 

Easton was thrilled with his gifts too.  He got a three books, Mega Bloks, a crawl snail, a Little People car wash, a shake puppy and a few other little toys. 

He was so fun to watch.  I think his favorite was the blue shake dog.  It plays music, shakes and shimmies  over the floor.

The first present that Madi actually stopped for was her shoes from grandma.  She wanted us to put them on her.   She's such a girl!

Easton and his puppy... 

The next one she stopped for was her towel.  A few days after Christmas I was folding the laundry and Madi came running to me  with her towel saying "Thank you Mommy!  Thank you Mommy!  You wash my towel!"  She was so excited that I washed her towel.  It was nice to get such big thank yous for doing the laundry, especially from my princess.

Easton liked Madi's food too.  He gnawed on everything! 

Madi got dishes and food for her kitchen. 

Madi LOVED her stocking.  It was full of "lipstick" and a sparkly purse to carry it all in. 

After it was all opened, we brought Madi down and told her the kitchen was hers!  It was a great morning and such a nice day!  I love Christmas and I love that we were able to be home with just our little family. 

Where have I been???

So I am kind of in love with the website Pintrest.  I found this super cute kitchen on it and decided that I would use it as my inspiration for Madi's kitchen that I had planned on making her for Christmas.  It is done from an old entertainment center which made it less expensive than starting from scratch. 

So, after several attempts to snag one on KSL, my sister said they were getting rid of theirs.  I offered to trade her for our old TV stand and she said yes!  Yea!  I finally had one!  (this isn't it but it is similar)  So, in  Oct., I started working on it.  My brother, Derrick and I spent a day getting a back on it, removing moldings and doors and cutting the shelves for the fridge while my amazing SIL, Annie, played with my kids.  Then it never worked out for me to get down there again to work on it until the second week of December.  Since I have the awesomest family ever and one aunt in particular, I was able to get it almost finished by Christmas.  So, here's the story...

I would love to say that I did it all myself, but the reality is, a lot of people helped and a lot of hours went into it.  My uncle has a wood shop under his garage so my aunt said to bring it there.  She watched my kids while we worked on it.  My uncle helped us a ton and Jalene, (my aunt) helped on it to.  They let us stay at their house three different weekends working on it.  They stayed up late and got up early to help us and let us use their tools and wood scraps to add fun details, saving us a little money which was such a blessing!  Chris and Annie spent several hours helping us as well.  I am not sure what I would've done without them.  I can't thank them enough!

Anyhow, when we got it home, the Saturday before Christmas, a little before midnight, we brought it down stairs.  Because the thing was such a beast and way heavy, and since Madi had already seen it, we decided to put it right in the playroom to do the finishing details so we wouldn't have to move it again.

We ran into a little problem.  It was too big to get into our playroom.  We could bring it straight down the stairs but couldn't make the turn.  We tried every possible angle, every possible move, and tried for three hours to get it in before going to bed.  When we started, we thought it was too deep for Madi so we put our back wall in about six inches to make it shallower.  Little did we know, it actually saved us in the end because we had to cut five inches off the back to finally get it into the play room.  Derrick took the circular saw to it and we got the back cut off and it glided right in!  Yea!!!

So, this is what it looked like when we got it in.  Next came a long week of finishing and getting it to a point that it actually looked like a kitchen. 

Madi was a good helper and loved it even before she knew it was hers.  She kept saying it was mommy's kitchen.  She bathed her dog in the sink and even climbed in herself a few times.

Come Christmas eve, this is what we had done.  It was good enough for us.  We still had lots of finishing to do but at least it looked like a kitchen. 

Madi loved it and was thrilled when we told her it was hers, not mommy's.  She has had a great time playing with it. 

She has even played IN it! :D 

Since Christmas, we have added handles, a faucet, some rags, a window valance and a few other details.  I need to finish her canisters and some towels, hot pads and oven mitts and get the vinyl up (I just sent my order in a couple days ago) so, as soon as that is done, I will post a finished picture.  It has been so fun to do and I have loved making it with Derrick and all the others that helped.  Thank you Andrea for letting me steal your apron for a week and thanks to Stacie that found the darling candlestick turned chandelier.  Thank you to everyone else that had any part in it.  I love how it turned out and I know Madi loves it!  When we were at Wal-Mart yesterday she saw a play kitchen and I asked her if she liked that or hers and she didn't even hesitate before shouting "Madi's!"